Capturing essence

After some deliberation and a lot of different inspirations, I knew what I wanted to do for my next charcoal piece.  I wanted to capture the essence of an emotion, while leaving a subtle meaning.  So I decided to take another shot at doing a self portrait...I think the great thing about these are they don't nessasarily have to be photographic you...they are portraying a side of you.  As I drew, a mantra was repeating in my head "Silence became my teacher."  I think this repetition of thought effected the outcome.  So I decided maybe that should be the title.  This became a rather personal work.

                                         "Silence Became My Teacher"

Crazy Dreams

So I've tried something for the very first time and this is how it came out.  Last night I had an intense dream about society breaking down and chaos hit the streets leaving me and a few friends desperately running for our lives. 
At the end of my dream, a friend and I had made it on a jet just in time to see the world end from the sky.  Magnificently horrifying and real, I sank in my seat as I stared out the window at the multiple plumes of death. 
When I awoke, I was strangely entertained by the dream and it stuck with me all day today.  So I decided to recreate the ending as best as I could.

I've never tried to make a work of art directly from a dream before.  But is was quite fun, and good practice.